Sewing-machine table



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W. A. MACK.

e SEWING MACHINE TABLE. N0. 508,031. v Patented NOV. 7, 1893,

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W. A. MACK.

SEWING MAGHINE TABLE.

No. 508,031. Patented Nov. 7, 1893.

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W. A.'MACK. SEWING MACHINE TABLE.

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` No. 508,031. Patented Nov. 7, 1893.

lrnfernonl NITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM AQMACK, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

SEWING-MACHINE TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 508,031, dated November 7, 1893. Application filed January 28, 18,93.. Serial No. 459,990. (No model.)

.To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM A. MACK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machine Tables; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description'of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relatesto improvements in stands for sewing or other machines, and the object of the invention, in a sewing machine, is to provide means whereby the machine may be raised into working position, and lowered out of sight and covered when not in use, by simply turning the top lid or cover to open or closed position, and the parts are so constructed and arranged that when the machine is in working position it is firmly supported in its usual relation to the other parts, and when it is lowered it is removed bodily out oE the way within the cabinet and is wholly concealed and covered,

To these ends the invention'consists in the construction and combination of parts substantially as shown and described and particularly pointed out the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a rear elevation of my improved stand, with a portion of the cabinet or case broken away at the left to disclose the construction and arrangement of internal parts. In the View the parts are in working position. Fig. 2 is a corresponding view to.Fig. 1, but showing the main arm as in a halfway raised or lowered position. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation corresponding substantially to Figs. l and 2,

with the main arm carried down to its position of rest within the cabinet and the lid down on. the top of the machine; Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view on a line corresponding to line 2, 2, Fig. 5, but with the machine removed and showing the frame or base upon which the machine is supported. Fig. 5 is a cross section on a line corresponding to4, 4, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the movable horizontal frame or base which supports the machine. Figs. 7 and 8 are cross sections on line 5, 5, Fig. 4, and are designed to show the positions of the door when raised and lowered, respectively, as herein after more fully described. Figs. 9 and 10 are views of the pawl and ratchet mechanism for tightening the tension of the lift spring.

In the drawings, 2 represents the support` ing frame. It will be observed that the said frame is so constructed that it provides a chamber or space within the same into which the machine, including the main arm 3, can be lowered out of the way when the machine is not at work, and from which it can be raised into working position by merely turning back the toplid or cover 4. Thus, in Fig. 3 we see the machine down within the cabinet andthe cabinet closed over the top by the lid or cover 4. In Fig. 2 the parts are in position asy when the lidk is half way open, and in Fig. l the lid is fully open and the ma*- chine is up in working position.

In Fig. 6 I show a frame or base 5, which occupies a horizontal position within the main frame Vand is adapted to be raised and lowered by sliding upon suitable guides rigid with or forming a part of said frame, and

serves as a rest and support for the machine.

In the stand as here shown, the frame 5 is provided at-its ends with tongues 7, which slide in grooved guide bars or pieces 8, fixed rigidly to the main frame 2, and serves to steady frame 5 in its up and down movements.l Then in order to further steady the said movable frame 5 horizontally and to overcome any possible tendency to dip or turn laterally, I employ at one end an additional support in the form of a rod 9, fixed to the main frame 2 at its ends, and a yoke lO rigidly fixed to the frame 5 and adapted to slide on said rod 9 the same as the tongues 7 slide in the grooves or channels of the upright guide pieces 8. There might be a corresponding arrangement to parts 9 and l0 at the opposite end of the frame 5 if it were deemed necessary. lNow, in order that the raising and loweringof the parts may be effected as desired, I provide a vertical rack ll on one side of the grooved or channeled bars 8, and a .shaft 12v in suitable bearings upon the movable frame 5.

This shaft has a pinion 13 fixed on each end to engage said racks and travel therein, and a closely wound wire spring 14 encircles the shaft and is fixed at one end to the hub of the ratchet wheel l5,

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sleeved on said shaft, and at the other end is made rigid with the shaft. A pawl 15', pivoted on the supporting frame 5, engages and locks this ratchet. This construction enables me to adjust the tension of the spring 14 so as to `give it greater or less strength, as may be needed, without removing the parts. The said spring 14 is so woiin'd about the shaft 12 that it will assist in turning said shaft to raise the machine and offer resistance to prevent abrupt lowering of the machine, and it may be so adjusted in tension `as to practically do all the lifting,and in like manner also coiinter-balancc the said parts when they are lowered.

The frame 5 has a longitudinal channel, groove or slot 16 at one side, Fig. 6, in which the extremity of the inner crank arm 17 is adapted to work. This arm is rigid with a spindle 18, supported centrally in the rear of the cabinet, Fig. 4, and an operating crank 19` is rigid upon this spindle on the outside of the cabinet. These inner and outer cranks or arms 17 and 19, respectively, thus made rigid4 with one another through the spindle i 18, occupy dii-ferent relations to said spindle, so that the operating crank 19 will always be in the best position to exertits leverage when the machine is being raised or lowered. A t link 20 .connects arm 1t) with the lid or cover i 4, about midway of its length as clearly shown in Fig. 2,` and the movements of the said lid from an open to a closed position, or the reverse, serve to reverse the positions of the machine. It will also be noticed that in the movements of the machine from its position of rest to its position of work, the arm 17 describes exactly a half circle, and that when it is down said arm hangs in verticallines and the parts resting thereon can go nolower. In like manner when the said arm 17 is in its raised position, it is again in vertical lines an-d the machine is held firmly in a working position. It will benoticed furthermore that the main arm 3 and its base are not only thus raised to workin g position and held firmly and rigidly therein, but that said parts are locked immovably and firmly in this position. This is eifected through the arm 19, the link 20, and the lid 4, to which said link is attached. The effectiveness of this locking is clearly seen in Fig. 1, where the lid is shown as open and the arm 17 cannot possibly move in any direction. Said arm 17 preferably has an anti-friction roller in the slot or channel 16 to relieve the arm of friction. W hen the main arm is up or down, the crank arm is at the inner extremity of slot 16 in the movable frame 5, and when it is in a half Way position, as in Fig. 2, the said crank is at the outer extremity of said slot. All this adjusting mechanism is at the rear of the stand and Wholly out of the Way of the operator.

With this construction the movements of the machine from one position to the other are so easy that a .little child can do the work, and all this without noise or friction or inconvenience of any kind. When th'e lid 4. is raised and opened, which may be done with as much ease, at least, as if there were n'o weight'attached to it, the machine is in position and readiness for use, and after use, when the said lid is turned down or closed, the machine is carried into the space beneath the lid and everything is out of the way.

The cabinet or casing of the stand iucloses the machine upon its ends and at rear, and at the front is a hanging or swinging door 30, with horizontal hinges 31 and serving to close the front when the parts are down out of Working position, as seen in Fig. 7. On the back of this door at or near its top 1s a hook or projection 32, long enough to engage the frame 5 when said frame is being raised. It follows that when said frame is carried up to position as seen in Figs. 1 and S, the said door will be automatically swung back out of the Way of the Loperator and into a substantially horizontal position. When said frame 5 is lowered, the door will resume its closed position, as in Fig. 7. In all this the operator does not touch the door and the entire operation of opening or closing is automatic.

The pinion 1.3 at the right of the movable frame, Figs. 3 and 4, is free to be turned upon the shaft 12 and the other pinion 13 is fixed rigidly upon the shaft. By having one pinion rotatable 1am enabled to set both pinions to mesh exactly alike in corresponding teeth in the two racks, and thereby cause the frame 5 to be held perfectly horizontal in all its up and down movements, and both ends thereof to travel with the same speed at the saine elevation. When pinion 13 is adjusted it is held by set screw or other suitable means on shaft 12. i

It will be observed that the cover 4 is piv oted at 4', and that the table or top of the stand 4 extends outward some distance beyond the said pivot point, say about onefourth the length of said cover, and thus forms a support for the said cover when the same is opened, as in Fig. 1.

Obviously, the mechanism here shown and described in connection with a sewing ma` chine is not necessarily limited in its use to such a machine, and may be used in connection with typewriters or other machines where similar operations are desirable.

It will be noticed that the crank arm -17- describes an exact half circle in its movement from one limit of its operation to the other, and that when it is up in vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1, it alone serves to hold the movable frame in its raised position; and when it is turned down, as in Fig. 3, it is in exact line with its former position and is again vertical and serves here to hold the said frame and head down for shipment. It is therefore a supporting and locking arm in both of its working positions.

`Having thus described my invention, what I claim is '1. The stand having vertical guides and IlO racks,in combination with the movable frame,

a shaft thereonwith a spring wound about the same and pinions on said shaft engaging said racks, a crank arm engaging saidmovable frame at one side and a rigid leverwith said arm, a cover for the stand and a link connecting said cover with said lever, whereby when the cover is opened the machine is raised into position for use, substantially as set forth.

2. The cabinet having vertical parallel guide-Ways and racks, a supporting frame. movable up and down in said guide-ways and.

carrying pinions whichwork in` said rack-s, a cover hinged to fold over the top of the cabinet and link and lever mechanism having a fixed pivot on the edge of said cover between its ends and working on the side of the said supporting frame, whereby the said frame is raised or lowered when the said vcover is opened or closed, substantially as set forth.

3. The stand having the racks at its endsV and the movable frame carrying pinions meshing in said racks, in combination with a crank arm pivoted in the back of said'stand and engaging the rear of said movable frame, a lever to actuate said arm, a pivoted cover for the stand, and a link connecting said cover with said lever, whereby the said movable frame -is raised and lowered by opening or closing the said cover, substantially as set forth.

4. The cabinet having parallel vertical guide ways `and racks at its ends, in combination with the movable frame, the shafton said frame having pinions on its ends outside the frame meshing in said racks, andaspring about said shaft rigid therewith at one end v set forth.

5. A stand for machines having a door at itsgfront supported on horizontalhinges hung to `swing the door inward, in combination with A`a vertically movable frame in said stand whollyv disconnected from said door and a rigid projection on said door above said frame and projecting into the path of the frame, v

whereby when the frame is raised the said projection is engaged and the door raised, substantially as set-forth.

6. The stand having vertical guides. and racks at its ends, the movable frame within said stand constructed to travel insaid guides, and a shaft on said frame having pinions at its ends to mesh in said racks, in combination with the mechanism to raise and lower said frame consisting of a lever -17- having .movable engagement with the edge and provided with a spindle 218- supported centrally in the rear of the stand, the arm -19- fixed o n said spindle outside the stand,' the pivoted cover for the stand, and the link --2O`- connecting the said arm and'cover, substantially as set forth.

7. In a' sewing machine stand the frame thereof, a door across the front of the machine suspended on horizontal hinges constructed to swing inward, and a rigid hook n shaped projectionon the back of the .door near its upper edge, in combination with a movable frame in the machine behind said door and connections to lift the said frame and engage the said projection, Wherebywhen the frame is raised the door is automatically WILLIAM A. MACK.

Witnesses:

H. T. FISHER, GEORGIA SCHAEFFER. 

